1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of anti-theft systems and more specifically relates to a wireless vehicle anti-theft surveillance system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Motor vehicle theft, sometimes referred to as grand theft auto by the media and police departments in the United States, is the criminal act of stealing or attempting to steal a motor vehicle. Nationwide in the United States in 2005, there were an estimated 1.2 million motor vehicle thefts, or approximately 416.7 motor vehicles stolen for every 100,000 inhabitants. Property losses due to motor vehicle theft in 2005 were estimated at $7.6 billion. Since then the number of motor vehicle thefts nationally has declined. Even with this decline, the most recent statistics, for 2009, show an estimated 794,616 thefts of motor vehicles nationwide representing property losses of nearly $5.2 billion. The inconvenience and cost caused by such theft events is significant.
Some methods used by criminals to steal motor vehicles include theft of an unattended vehicle without keys, theft with access to keys, opportunistic theft, carjacking, and fraudulent theft. The common tools used by criminals to steal vehicles include a slide hammer puller to break into the door locks and the cylinder lock, multimeters or a test light to find a power source, spare wires and/or a screwdriver to connect the power source to the ignition and starter wires, a generic rod and hook to slip between the car window and the car frame, and firearms or other weapons such as a baseball bat to break open a window. The common denominator of all of these methods is that an intruder must approach the vehicle and be in close proximity to the vehicle in order to complete the theft.
Several methods of deterrent have been developed including devices to lock a vehicle part necessary for operation of a vehicle such as a steering wheel, immobilizers which allow the vehicle to start only if a key containing the correct chip is present in the ignition, and other deterrents such as car alarm systems, kill switches, signage on windows warning of the presence of deterrents and VIN etching in windows and the like. Many of these means may be ineffective, cumbersome and/or expensive. A cost-effective solution is desirable.
Various attempts have been made to solve the above-mentioned problems such as those found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,326 to Valerie Jean Turner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,904 to Roger D. Peterson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,104 to Donald J. Reid, U.S. Pat. No. 6,333,759 to Joseph J. Mazzilli, U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,238 to Larry L. Felix, and U.S. Pub. No. 2013/0182065 to Shih-Yao Chen. This art is representative of anti-theft systems. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the invention as claimed.
Ideally, a wireless vehicle anti-theft surveillance system should provide the ability to sense movement around a vehicle within a predetermined area via a plurality of (semi-concealed) sensors which activates one or more cameras to record the activity and wirelessly transmit visual images of the activity in real time to a remote monitor and, yet would operate reliably and be manufactured at a modest expense. Thus, a need exists for a reliable wireless vehicle anti-theft surveillance system to avoid the above-mentioned problems.